Lazy Lester

The last surviving member of the first generation swamp blues fraternity that includes Slim Harpo, Lightnin' Slim and Lonesome Sundown, Lazy Lester has always been one of the best. Whether he's playing his own killer cuts such as "Ponderosa Stomp," "Patrol Wagon Blues," "Out Of The Goodness Of My Heart," "You're Gonna Ruin Me Baby," "The Same Thing Could Happen To You," (or "Sugar Coated Love" or "I Hear You Knockin'" for that matter) or wailing through his all time favorite song-Al Ferrier's "Blues Stop Knockin' At My Door," Lester brings the spirit of Crowley, Louisiana-and the (please pardon the term) MUSICAL GUMBO, there, I said it, of J.D. Miller's genre-jumping recording sessions to life when he hits the stage. Possessing a head of hair that resembles Albert Einstein at his finest moment, a voice as warm as they come and a harp style injected with pure country twang, Lester simply epitomizes everything that's great about the state of Louisiana: Lightnin' Slim, Nathan Abshire, Rocket Morgan, Warren Storm, Joe Barry all of whose records he's played on. It might have been harmonica, guitar, drums, wood blocks, cardboard boxes, even a Shetland pony saddlebut Lester used it to the best and most tasteful effect, giving Miller's records that rhythmic edge of weird creative vision that made them so memorable.

Though known as a blues performer, to hear Lester play country-always his first love-is to stand at the crossroads of the magic that birthed rock 'n roll in the very first place.